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Bir Singh v. Delhi Jal Board and connected matters

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 766Decided 30 Aug 2018
Civil Appeal No. 1085 of 2013, Civil Appeal Nos. 9935-9937 of 2014, Civil Appeal No. 10081 of 2014, Civil Appeal No. 8141 of 2014, Civil Appeal No. 9048 of 2018, Civil Appeal No. 8802 of 2012, Civil Appeal No. 1086 of 2013
Justice Ranjan Gogoi · Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice R. Banumathi · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

Bir Singh's appeal against the Delhi Jal Board was the lead matter used to finally resolve a long-pending constitutional question referred by an earlier two-judge Bench in State of Uttaranchal v. Sandeep Kumar Singh: whether a person recognised as a Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) in one State can claim that same reserved status for public employment in a different State or Union Territory, in particular the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. A Full Bench of the Delhi High Court had followed a three-judge Supreme Court decision (S. Pushpa) holding that SC/ST status travels with a migrant into a Union Territory, a view in apparent tension with earlier Constitution Bench rulings (Marri Chandra Shekhar Rao and the Action Committee case) confining reservation benefits to the specific State/Union Territory for which the caste/tribe was notified. A five-judge Bench was constituted to resolve this conflict, with Bir Singh's dispute with the Delhi Jal Board, and several other similarly placed Delhi Jal Board service appeals, serving as the live cases through which the question was finally answered.

Decision Breakdown

The majority (Gogoi, Ramana, Shantanagoudar and Nazeer, JJ.) held that, as a general rule, SC/ST status notified for one State or Union Territory under Articles 341/342 does not automatically extend to another State/Union Territory when a person migrates: reservation under Article 16(4) is tied to the specific geographical area for which the caste/tribe was notified. However, the majority carved out that, specifically for the NCT of Delhi, the pan-India reservation rule actually in force there is consistent with the constitutional scheme governing Union and State/Union Territory services, and therefore valid. Justice Banumathi agreed with the general principle but dissented on this Delhi-specific finding, holding that reservation in Union Territory services (other than UPSC-recruited posts) should likewise be confined to SC/STs notified specifically for that Union Territory. Having answered the reference this way, the majority held it unnecessary to remit this and the other tagged Delhi appeals to a regular bench and disposed of them directly "in terms of the present order," while a related appeal concerning the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands was separately listed before an appropriate bench for fresh consideration on its own facts.

Lesson Learnt

Whether an SC/ST certificate obtained in one State can be used to claim reserved-category employment benefits in another State or Union Territory depends on the specific Presidential Order notifying that caste/tribe for the area in question. As a rule it does not travel automatically, though Delhi was recognised as having a valid pan-India reservation policy for its Union Territory services as an exception to that general rule.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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